"Measuring Physical Activity" by Teresa Vollenweider

I recently attended and sponsored the second symposium in The Cooper Institute's Conference Series--Measurement of Physical Activity. It was a wonderful conference. The speakers were magnificent, the poster sessions were excellent, and there were participants from all over the world sharing ideas. The papers presented there will be published in a supplement to the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport in March of 2000 (someone please correct me if I have the month wrong).

Among the presentations was information about motion sensors--the Caltrac, the Tritrac, the CSA monitor, and the Digiwalker step counter--and physiological sensors--Polar heart rate monitors.

Recently it was brought to my attention that physical educators are using the Digiwalker step counter and other pedometers for grading purposes. From what I learned at the conference and from what I have observed in physical education classes using the Digiwalker step counter, I believe that a word of caution is in order. Remember that children can and will cheat with the pedometer and that there is no way in a class of 20-30 students that you will always be able to catch them.

Also, think about this situation that was posed to the me by a student at Procter Elementary School in Independence, Missouri--the young fellow wanted to know why he had fewer steps than his friend when he ran a given distance and his friend walked it. Figuring that they both weighed about the same amount, who did more work? Think back to physics. Steps don't tell us everything that we need to know when measuring physical activity, so take care to use step counters/pedometers responsibly.

I feel that the pedometer's greatest "gift" is its ability to give immediate feedback to the wearer and to motivate him or her to move more. It, however, does not measure intensity of the movement the way that a heart rate monitor does. For now, in a physical education setting a physiological monitor such as a heart rate monitor is still the best at doing that. Think about combining the use of the Digiwalker step counter and the heart rate monitor to measure physical activity. That's what many of the researchers are doing now. It can be a very effective combination. The two complement each other beautifully. Most important of all, keep it fun! Your comments, questions, or suggestions are welcomed.

Whomever is the first to email me the correct answer to the question regarding which little fellow worked the most, wins a free DIGIWALKER step counter pedometer!

(Teresa Vollenweider is the owner of NEW LIFESTYLES and can be reached at www.digiwalker.com or 1- 888-SIT-LESS)